Why Taxing the Wealthy is Harder Than it Looks (opens in new tab)

Over the last year, there have been a number of policies aimed at taxing the wealthy and ultra-wealthy. It started last November when the "2026 Billionaire Tax Act" ballot initiative was proposed in California to impose a one-time 5% wealth tax on its resident billionaires. In March 2026, the state of Washington passed a Millionaires Tax which would tax all incomes above $1 million at 9.9%. And, most recently, New York City proposed a pied-à-terre tax, which would levy a surcharge on all seco...